BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - A wrongful death lawsuit blames a Massachusetts store at which a man bought skin-whitening treatment that caused chemical burns.
Shanna Pringle, as the personal representative of the estate of Gabriel Andre Augustin, filed a lawsuit Feb. 16 against Kiki’s Hair City, Inc., Kiki Beauty Supply, Inc., and Beauty Supply Supermarket, Inc. The suit was filed in the Superior Court of Suffolk County.
The complaint alleges that prior to March 3, 2021, Augustin purchased Haloderm Clobetasol Propionate 0.05% from the defendants' shops without a prescription. This product is used for skin whitening but is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over-the-counter sale in the United States, the suit says.
After using the product for approximately eight months, Augustin was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on March 2, 2021, and died the following day. An autopsy revealed his cause of death as "cardiac dysrhythmia in the setting of chemical burns" due to application of skin lightening agents.
Pringle accuses the defendants of negligence for selling an unsafe product that was not approved by FDA and failing to provide adequate warnings about its potential dangers. She seeks compensatory damages for wrongful death.
Jordan Belliveau and Anna Madrishin of Tetzel Law represent the plaintiff.